Revd The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

. Charles Maude Meysey-Thompson (5 December 1849 – 11 September 1881) was an English clergyman who, as an amateur

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

1873 Events January–March * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defe ...

with the Wanderers. He also played in the

1876 FA Cup Final The 1876 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Old Etonians on 11 March 1876 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fifth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in ...

for the Old Etonians and for the Scottish XI in the last representative match against England in 1872.

Family and education

Born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

as Charles Maude Thompson, he was the son of Sir Harry Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baronet (1809–1874) and Elizabeth Anne Croft. His brothers included

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(who succeeded to his father's title), Albert and

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

(who became M.P. for Birmingham Handsworth from 1906 to 1922). Thompson was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

before going up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

where he matriculated in 1868. He graduated in 1872 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and was awarded his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1876. In 1872, he earned an athletics Blue for Cambridge, but was unplaced in throwing the hammer.

Football career

Thompson played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

(as a forward) at Eton College and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Whilst at the University, he was selected as a late replacement for

Henry Primrose Sir Henry William Primrose (22 August 1846 – 17 June 1923) was a Scottish civil servant. He joined the Treasury in 1869, served as private secretary to the Viceroy of India from 1880 to 1884 and to Gladstone in 1886. He was secretary of the Of ...

to represent Scotland in a match against England on 24 February 1872. It would appear that his only connection with Scotland was that the family owned property "north of the border". His brother Albert represented England who won the match by a single goal. Thompson followed his brother Albert and joined the Wanderers, for whom he made his first appearance on 14 February 1872 in a 6–1 victory over the Civil Service. Despite having only played one other match for them, he was selected for the Wanderers in their defence of the

in the

1873 FA Cup Final The 1873 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 29 March 1873 at Lillie Bridge in London. It was the second final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known ...

played at

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) a ...

on 29 March 1873. In the final, the Wanderers defeated

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

2–0, with goals from Arthur Kinnaird and

Charles Wollaston Charles Henry Reynolds Wollaston (31 July 1849 – 22 June 1926) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Wanderers and England. He won the FA Cup five times with Wanderers, becoming the first player to do so. Wollaston was born i ...

. Thompson played a further four games for the Wanderers at the start of the 1873–74 season and played seven matches for them in total. He also played for the Old Etonians and in

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...

he was selected to play alongside his brother in the Cup Final match against his former club, the Wanderers. By now, the family had adopted the name "Meysey-Thompson", although Albert played under the name "Thompson" and Charles under the name "Meysey". Two other pairs of brothers played in this match;

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

and

Hubert Heron George Hubert Hugh Heron (30 January 1852 – 5 June 1914) was an English footballer who made five appearances as a forward for England in the 1870s and won three FA Cup winners' medals. Playing career Heron was born in Uxbridge, west London ...

lined up for the Wanderers, while the Etonians' team included Hon.

Edward Lyttelton Edward Lyttelton (23 July 1855 – 26 January 1942) was an English schoolmaster, cleric and sportsman from the Lyttelton family who was headmaster of Eton College from 1905 to 1916. During his early years he played first-class cricket for Cambr ...

and his brother Hon.

Alfred Lyttelton Alfred Lyttelton KC (7 February 1857 – 5 July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman from the Lyttelton family who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports ...

. This is the only occasion that two or more pairs of brothers have played in the same FA Cup Final. The match ended in a 1–1 draw and was replayed a week later; neither Charles nor Albert were selected for the replay (Charles being injured) which ended as a 3–0 victory to the full-strength Wanderers side.

Later career

Thompson was ordained as a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

priest and became

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cl ...

in 1873. In 1875, he became curate at St. Pancras in London for a year before becoming

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Middle Claydon Middle Claydon is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south of Buckingham and about west of Winslow. The toponym "Claydon" is derived from the Old English for "clay hill" ...

in Buckinghamshire in 1876. In 1881, he was visiting

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

in the United States in the hope of improving his declining health, but he died at Peoa on 11 September aged 31. In 1874, he married Emily Mary Walker, daughter of Sir James Walker, 1st Baronet, of

Sand Hutton Sand Hutton is a village and civil parish which forms the larger part of the Claxton and Sand Hutton grouped parish council, in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north-east of York. History The village is mentioned in ...

; they had one child, Harold James Meysey-Thompson, born in 1876.

Honours

Wanderers *

winners:

Old Etonians *

finalists:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meysey-Thompson, Charles 1849 births 1881 deaths Footballers from York People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English men's footballers Old Etonians F.C. players Wanderers F.C. players Scotland men's representative footballers (1870–1872) 19th-century English Anglican priests Men's association football forwards Younger sons of baronets